The Forgotten

Birthday Surprises

We make our way out to the car, Ebony in the front seat, me and Celeste in the back. Nan drives us to my favourite restaurant in town, The Hollow. It’s a small restaurant, only seating about 50 at a time, and at the moment it is deserted. The clock strikes 1 1 : 0 0 a.m just as we enter the building. We are greeted by the owner of the restaurant, Kevin Lawrence and his young daughter, Micheala Belle. Micheala is in the same daycare group as Celeste and they are probably the closest friends out of the whole group.

“CELLY!” Micheala Belle calls out as we walk in, Celeste immediately runs over to her friend and gives her a hug.

“Miccy Belle! I didn’t know you were gonna be here!” Celeste squeals, jumping up and down excitedly.

“I knewded it was Lou Lou’s birday.” Micheala Belle whispers to Celeste.

“It is, we are having lunch!” Celeste says, smiling at her friend.

“Ah, hello there Black clan, welcome to The Hollow and if I am not mistaken it’s your birthday isn’t it Miss Luna?” Mr Lawrence says, smiling at me and winking at his daughter, who along with Celeste start giggling.

“Yes it is, sir” I say smiling back, my fingers twirling around my hair, a nervous habit I picked up off Ebony when I was younger.

“And how old are you turning, Miss Luna?” Mr Lawrence asks politely.

“16, sir” I say still playing with my hair.

“Oh, wow. I remember when you were just a baby. I actually remember when your mother told me she was having a baby. A big shock to everyone that one was. You see, dear Luna. Your mother and I were very close friends and you, well your like my own daughter you are.” Mr Lawrence says, well rants.

“May we please have a table, Kevin?” Nan says just as Mr Lawrence is about to open his mouth to start  speaking again.

“Oh course, Ma’am” he sighs sadly, “come right this way”

Mr Lawrence leads us to the table closest to the far right window. Out the window you can vaguely see the lake, Tallahasee lake, or as the children call it, Dark Water. It’s a pretty creepy lake, in a pretty creepy setting. Actually when you think about it most of this town looks scary, like a ghost town from old scary movies. All the buildings in town have dark bricks and roofs, majority of the building have a dark theme about them. There are several dead, rotting trees around the outskirts of the town, as if to say that when you leave you will turn into them. The town is actually covered in mist, eighty per cent of the day, hence why we get our name, Mist. Out at the lake there are huge weeping willows surrounding the lake, the leaves falling in the water. All the younger children, a few years back named the lake Dark Water because the water is exactly that, dark. It almost looks black but if you look really closely then you can see that it is actually a very dark blue, and in some spots green. The grass around the lake is overgrown and has small weeds all around it. The longs grass invites a lot of dangerous creatures, like snakes, to make their home in the grass around the lake. Back when I was a child, the water in the lake was something far off what it was now, the water was an amazing, almost clear blue. The blue like an undisturbed beach on a desolate beach, which was pretty amazing for the fact that it was a lake, one used often amongst the towns people. The grass around the lake was trimmed almost every day so that people could visit the lake to go swimming or have picnics around the edge of the lake. The weeping willows were also trimmed so the leaves and branches came at least 3 meters above the water line, so people wouldn’t injure themselves on them. The town was also a much more cheerful place, the buildings weren’t as dark, they always had small lights turned on, the lights were fairy lights that decorated the  whole outside of the building,  to make  the dark exterior a little bit more cheerful. But for some reason  all of that just stopped, no one know why and of course there are rumors around as to why, but no one knows the exact reason,  or so they say.

One of the rumors is that dreadful murders were committed against many residents of Mist, hundreds of people were tortured to death and no one could ever try and make anything that cheerful again. Another  is that ghosts inhabited the town and turned everyone into  gloomy people that had given up on life. None of which I think are true.

Anyway, The Hollow, was a little restaurant in the middle of town, the inside had a nature feel to it, all the furniture was made out of raw pine and the walls even had pine panels. There are pictures of the woods on our property, of other forests and woods and just direct nature. The inside of the restaurant represents the inside of a hollowed out tree, which is where the name of the restaurant comes into it, The Hollow. I look at the menu and as always, they are made out of a special bark. The bark is a bit like paper but feels and looks like bark. Mr Lawrence’s other daughter, Amelia Jade who is the same age as me and in the same class at school. She has the day off school most of time because she has to help her father in the restaurant. Amelia Jade and Micheala Belle both share almost identical features, they both have light blonde hair and dark brown eyes. Their skin colour is the same pale pink that suits them both very well. Amelia Jade is of average height, maybe a bit on the short side. She is just a bit shorter than me but has a complete different body build. She is naturally skinny, which means that she has a high metabolism, something I envy severally. She is a muscular girl and naturally gifted in dance, ballet at that. She is a very pretty girl, another thing I envy about her. She radiates laughter and joy, something this town definitely needs more of. She is all smiles when she comes over to our table to take our orders.

“Hi, Luna. Happy birthday!” she says cheerfully and gives me a quick hug, “What can I get  for you guys today?”

I know immediately what I am going to order, my favourite meal here, the ceasar salad, chicken wrap combo. I am chicken lover, I am going to admit it, it’s my favourite type of meat, and really the only I can stand to eat. Ebony orders her usual, nacho’s, which seems to be the only thing she eats when we go out. Celeste contemplates her order for a few minutes, asking Micheala Belle every so often for advice on what the best meal of the day is. Micheala Belle ends up choosing the fettuccini cabonara meal for her, which Celeste eagerly abides by. Nan orders a simply salad, a healthy choice and practically the only things she ever eats, at all. We all order milkshakes, which some in a variation of different flavours, Ebony has vanilla, Celeste has strawberry, Nan has chocolate and I have my absolute favourite, caramel.

“So, how do you like your birthday so far, Luna?” Nan asks me, drinking a sip of water.

“Oh, it’s wonderful Nan. Just having you, Ebby, and Celeste makes the day so much better. And now seeing Amelia Jade and Micheala Belle, it’s even better! I can only imagine that it will get better after that!” I say happily, smiling widely as I talk, Nan just smiles and nods her head. Ebony just smiles and Celeste just colours in the picture the Amelia Jade gave her to keep her entertained. The table falls into an awkward silence after that, Nan just stares at the table cloth that covers the table, Ebony stares out the window at the lake, most likely trying to remember when our parents took us to the lake. Nan told us that our parents always took us to the lake on a hot summers day, not that it got very hot here at all. Apparently we would have a picnic on the water front and then our mother and father would take us swimming. I don’t remember ever going to the lake with our parents, neither does Ebony, but we did. Celeste is still colouring in the picture and looking around the restaurant every so often to see if she can find Micheala Belle who seems to have disappeared out the back of the restaurant. I decide to follow Ebony’s gaze out the window, to see if I can remember anything from the past. I close my eyes and try to imagine what the lake used to look like back then. I open my eyes and it’s like the lake has been rehabilitated, it looks exactly like what I imagined, the grass is short and a luscious green, the water is as clear blue as the sky.

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